Commission tentatively denies quarry vote

In 2006, California was reported to need more than 13.5 billion tons of aggregate over the next 50 years, but permits had been issued for what amounted to a 16-year supply, according to the state Department of Conservation.

Company officials say the quarry will help meet the ever-growing demand for aggregate and avoid having loud, rumbling trucks haul the material across several states, which increases construction costs and pollutes the air.

"We should be spending our tax dollars wisely to build something, not truck something across a county," said Gary Johnson, Granite's aggregate resource manager. "It doesn't make sense to keep doing it the way we're doing it."

The 4,000-foot-long quarry and processing plants would be hidden from view from Temecula. But many residents of the city of 100,000 people located 60 miles north of San Diego and about 25 miles inland from the coast aren't convinced.

County planners recommend the project, noting the quarry would create 100 jobs. It would also be located next to Interstate 15, which would reduce truck trips throughout the region for construction.

Granite has promised to use water to spray down the dust and move rock via conveyer belts to enclosed processing plants to keep the air clear. The company has won some supporters, such as retired salesman Larry Lepley.

"I don't have a dog in the fight. I just look at things and try to apply common sense," Lepley, 72, said, adding that he trusts in the environmental studies conducted on the quarry. "The window of common sense tells me this is not a project that is going to hurt the area."

The many opponents include residents in nearby hamlets and those who work at the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, a pristine area surrounding the quarry site that is used for international research on ecology and environmental science. The site is home to endangered species such as the Least Bell's Vireo, a small, gray songbird that has seen its ranks dwindle amid a loss of river habitat.

Deep in a riverbed laced with lime green moss, butterflies dart alongside the brush and water trickles over stones. A cluster of cameras snap shots of the Santa Margarita River for research overseen by San Diego State University.

"You can't get it back," said Pablo Bryant, the reserve's research technology manager. "We can't rebuild it. Does the need for aggregate outweigh the biodiversity, the conservation, the ecology? Are those short-term gains worth it?"

Some residents in nearby communities fear their hillside neighborhoods could be overtaken by noise, traffic and dust. Tourism, which generates roughly $600 million a year and 6,000 jobs, could also take a hit, some residents say.

A local association of wine growers - who are key contributors to the tourism industry - has largely stayed out of the fray to avoid upsetting county officials who need to sign off on upcoming vineyard projects at a time when the region is booming. Still, many growers are worried, said Bill Wilson, whose family owns a winery in the Temecula Valley.